In an inhaler device for generating aerosol inhaled by a user such as a general electronic cigarette or nebulizer, a sufficient inhaling experience cannot be provided to the user unless elements such as an aerosol source for generating the aerosol and a flavor source for imparting flavor to the aerosol are replaced for a specific number of times of inhaling.
As a solution to this problem, there is known a technique for urging the user to replace the elements by notifying the replacement of the elements to the user using a light emitting diode (LED) or the like. However, even if the notification is performed at a timing when the replacement of the aerosol source and the flavor source is necessary, the user does not always pay attention to the LED at that timing. Therefore, the user tends to overlook such a notification in a situation such as inhaling of the aerosol.
As another solution to this problem, PTL 1 discloses an electronic steam supply device that shifts to a sleep mode when a cumulative time of inhaling exceeds a predetermined threshold. However, the technique disclosed in PTL 1 does not visually make a notification to a user. Therefore, the technique does not always urge the user to replace the elements at appropriate timing.
In order to perform satisfactory inhaling using the general electronic cigarette or nebulizer, it is necessary to appropriately manage not only a residual amount of a battery that supplies electric power to an atomizing part but also a residual amount of the aerosol source for generating aerosol and a residual amount of the flavor source for imparting flavor to the aerosol. However, in these elements necessary for the inhaling of the aerosol, timings and frequencies for recovering the residual amounts are often greatly different because of characteristics and loaded capacities of the elements. Therefore, it is not easy for the user to recover the residual amounts of a plurality of these elements respectively at appropriate timings.
As a solution to this problem, PTL 2 discloses a technique for associating replacement timing of a first cartridge including an aerosol source and replacement timing of a second cartridge including a flavor source. However, there is still room of improvement in notifying, to allow the user to easily understand, necessity of recovery of the plurality of elements necessary for inhaling in which the timings and the frequencies for recovering the residual amounts are greatly different.
In the inhaler device such as the general electronic cigarette or nebulizer that provides an inhaling experience using the aerosol source for generating aerosol and the flavor source for imparting flavor to the aerosol, a sufficient inhaling experience cannot be provided to the user unless residual amounts of the aerosol source and the flavor source are appropriately managed. However, in the aerosol source and the flavor source, timings and frequencies for recovering the residual amounts are greatly different. Therefore, it is not easy to respectively appropriately manage the residual amounts of these elements.
As a solution to this problem, PTL 2 discloses a technique for reducing a burden for managing the residual amounts of these elements by associating replacement timing of a first cartridge including an aerosol source and replacement timing of a second cartridge including a flavor source. Further, PTL 2 discloses a technique for reducing the burden for managing the residual amounts of these elements in a similar manner by informing replacement timings of the first cartridge and the second cartridge as well. However, there is still room of improvement in that it is difficult to distinguish whether only the second cartridge has to be replaced or the first cartridge also needs to be replaced at the replacement timings of these elements. There is also still room of improvement in that, at the replacement timings of these elements, how the replacement timings should be informed to urge the user to recover the residual amounts of the plurality of elements such that the user can continuously inhale.